A Look Back at 2019

December 30, 2019

Some of the most magical and festive things about the Christmas Season is coming together with family and friends, sharing moments of reflection, and giving thanks for the passing year. In light of this, we wanted to take a moment to thank you, the communities we serve, for making them what they are today!

In 2019 we saw the landscape of downtown Kelowna evolve and grow alongside the vibrant community spirit! Secure-Rite was so fortunate to be a part of the Downtown Kelowna Block party, where local artists and vendors came together to support one another and have a day of fun in the sun. They also had a blast supplying the Winter Market with a ‘sipping container’ for local brewery BNA and Fireside Cider to serve up festive beverages.

Secure-Rite Calgary was proud to support Grow Calgary Urban Community Farm for another year. Grow Calgary is Canada's largest urban community farm and they grow healthy and organic produce, and all of it is donated to compassionate charities in Calgary with food access programs. Their ultimate goal is to ensure that all residents of Calgary, especially those who are vulnerable and living in poverty, have consistent access to healthy, local food.

In the Spring, the City of Kelowna hosted the Civic Awards, where local individuals and businesses were acknowledged for their charitable and compassionate efforts to make the Okanagan Valley a better place for all. Angie Lohr was recognized as woman of the year for founding HOPE Outreach which serves to assist those affected by addiction or living on the streets. The Joanna’s House Task Force was responsible for opening a 20-room facility to ensure families with loved ones in care at KGH have a safe and comfortable place to stay. They received the Anita Tozer Memorial Award – bestowed by Council. Secure-Rite was humbled to receive the Corporate Community of the year award for giving back to a number of local and global initiatives in funds, time and products. Events such as these remind us how many wonderful people are doing amazing things for our community and serve as inspiration for others to jump in and get involved.

The United Way is another organization that Secure-Rite was more than happy to partner with on a number of initiatives including storing a large number of car seats for their child safety initiative, joining the funds allocation task force and supplying a container for bicycle parking to raise money for local organizations.

Giving back is something our communities do all year long, not just around the holidays. Organizations such as Women in Business work year-round to bring women together to learn from and collaborate with one another. On top of that they use all of the proceeds from their events to support one charity each year.

It’s no wonder that Canada was named the fourth most generous country in the world based on the number of donations per capita by GoFundMe. As our communities continue to grow so does the community spirit. We can’t wait to see what’s next in 2020!